Sometimes The Heart Sees What Is Invisible To The Eye
by GABGM
Summary: All the reasons that Josh shouldn't be with Maya and the one reason he should be. Josh ponders whether or not it is wise to acknowledge his feelings for Maya and do anything about them with a little help from his family.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Girl meets, if I did, Josh and Maya would already be together. I also do not own the song mentioned nor do I own the title, it is a quote.**

Okay, he had to think about this rationally. There was no way he was falling for her, it was simply not possible. How could he possibly be falling for her? He was not falling for a girl so much younger than him, much less his niece's best friend. It would just be creepy. I mean, Maya was like a sister to Riley, Cory had long ago accepted her as one of his own and it looked like Shawn was ready to step in as her father. She was family. Accept, he didn't think of her as family. He shouldn't be thinking she looks beautiful. He shouldn't want to run his fingers through her hair and let it free from that messy fish braid. He shouldn't think that the pink dress she was wearing brought out the beauty in her eyes and he most certainly should not be thinking that it hugged her in all the right places.

Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought, he was a nineteen year old boy after all, having these feelings for an attractive girl was completely normal. Even if she was only sixteen, it's not like she was a child anymore. These were just the healthy thoughts of a young man. Perfectly normal. At least that's what he was trying to convince himself of.

"You want me to bring you a bib son?" Allen smirked "we wouldn't want you drooling on your tux"

"Very funny dad, I was just admiring the sunset, it's beautiful right?"

"Yeah and I believe that. I'm sure that stupid grin has nothing to do with the girl standing beside the window"

"What? Maya?" he faked confusion "I hadn't even noticed"

"Josh…"

"It's not my fault! She looks really pretty tonight. It's her fault for looking so good tonight, I'm just having the response of a normal teenage boy"

"A normal teenage boy that's in love with a girl"

"Don't be ridiculous dad, I'm a freshman, and I'm too young to be in love. Much less so with a high school sophomore"

"Okay son" with those final words, Allen pat his son on the back and made his way over to his wife and daughter.

Alright, maybe he was developing feelings for her, maybe he had had these feelings for a long time but there was no way he was going to act on them. There were too many problems. It was too complicated. She was three years younger than him, that was not cool, it just wasn't appropriate. Even if he had these feelings, he couldn't act on them and anyway, eventually his feelings would blow over. Maybe he liked Maya but he was not in love with her. Absolutely not.

"Are you just going to stare at her all night kid? Or are you planning to actually ask her to dance?" his brother asked later as the bride and groom began spun around the dance floor.

"What are you talking about Cory?"

"Maya. Are you going to ask her to dance? And actually dance, not the dancing around each other and your feelings you two have been doing for years"

"Don't be silly Cory. Maya and I are just friends"

"Josh…"

"She's only sixteen, she's just a kid"

"You're just a kid Josh. And it's not like you'd be taking advantage of her, you're both old enough to know what you want"

"It's not like that"

"We both know that's a lie Josh"

"Can we just drop it please?"

"Lie to me all you want kid, but at least have the balls to be honest to yourself. You're in love with Maya hart"

"Cory! I told you, we're just friends"

"Whatever you say Josh" and mimicking his father's actions from just an hour before, he patted Josh on the back and left him alone to ponder what they had been talking about.

Okay, maybe the age difference wasn't that big of a deal but come one! She was his niece's best friend and that was just not cool. I mean there had to be some kind of code against dating your niece's friend. If it ended badly Riley would be in an incredibly awkward position and he had a hunch he wouldn't be on the winning side if it came to picking teams. Riley and Maya were inseparable he wouldn't put himself between them, he just wasn't that kind of guy. He would never do that to his niece.

"Hey Uncle Josh"

"Hey Riles, you having fun?"

"Yeah I'm so happy for Uncle Shawn and Katy"

"They deserve this"

"And so does Maya"

"Mmmm"

"Don't you think she looks beautiful tonight?

"She looks nice"

"Nice? Come on, she looks gorgeous"

"She's a pretty girl Riley"

"So you admit that you think she's pretty" his niece smirked.

"Admit? Riley anyone with eyes can see that she's a beautiful girl"

"Oh so now she's beautiful?"

"Shut up" he groaned.

"Why don't you just admit it? You love her, you want to kiss her and then marry her" she singsonged.

"No, because then she would be your aunt and you said you didn't want that"

"What I want is for the people I love to be happy" she corrected "and if that means that you guys date then so be it but stop using me as an excuse because you're too afraid to make a move"

"Riley…"

"What? I'm just saying" and following in the footstep of her father and her grandfather she walked away and left him to wallow in his toughs.

All right then, Riley wasn't what was in the way of him making a move but it wasn't like she was the only person that loved Maya in this family. His parents treated Maya as if she was one of their own and Shawn looked at her with more love than Josh had ever seen. She and Katy meant the world to Shawn and surely he wouldn't take kindly to him dating his daughter. Shawn was like a brother to Josh, he was in his life for as long as he could remember, he helped raise him for crying out loud! He couldn't betray his trust like that, he should just carry on making small talk and enjoying the wedding instead of dwelling on his feelings for Maya.

"She looks pretty happy right kid?"

"I'm pretty sure you just made her dream come true Shawn"

"Well their giving me my dream so it's the least I could do"

"Congratulations Shawn, I'm really happy for you"

"Thanks. It took me a while to realise what was staring me right in the eye you know? I didn't ask Katy out for weeks after we meet, I was terrified"

"Well you did Shawn, that's what counts"

"Yeah but I wish I hadn't wasted so much time. Do you get what I'm trying to say kid?"

"Not really no…"

"Josh" the older man sighed "as much as I wish I believed that Maya will never date, it's not very likely and as far as guys go, I'd rather her go out with you than some sleazy guy from her class"

"Shawn I-"

"Don't deny it Josh I'm not blind. We all know how you two feel about each other"

"I'm sorry Shawn, I tried not to!"

"You can't help who you fall in love with, I know that better than anyone" and for the fourth time that night, someone in his family had dropped a bomb on him and then simply walked away as if it were nothing. Okay so maybe he was making up excuses so as not to face the truth, he had feelings for Maya. But it didn't matter that he liked her and it didn't matter that both his family and hers approved of them being in a relationship. The truth of the matter was, Maya didn't feel the same way. Sure she had once had strong feelings for him, but that was two years ago, she had let go of that crush a long time ago, around the same time he realised that he was falling for her. So with that revelation, or better said, admission, Josh spent the rest of his night trying to ignore the dull ache in his chest. Worst of all, he didn't even get to dance with the object of his thoughts. That was why when his mother, after the wedding had been long over, sent him back down to the ballroom in search of a jacket she had discarded along the evening, he was happy for the chance to be alone. He was shocked however, when he reached the ballroom to find that it wasn't empty. Maya was walking around the tables, barefoot, a hoodie pulled over her dress and her hair tied into a messy bun. Oh crap! He really had it bad, she looked even more beautiful like that than she had earlier.

"Maya" he spoke as he walked over to her "it's late what are you doing here?"

"It's my duty as maid of honour to collect the cameras from the tables"

"Is that my hoodie?" he looked down at the blue hoodie she had pulled over her dress, probably in an attempt to protect herself from the cold night air.

"Yeah" she blushed and pulled at the bottom of the jumper "You left it at Cory and Topanga's a while back and I put it on one night when it was cold, I've kind of grown attached to it" she looked embarrassed "sorry"

"Don't be. You should keep it" he smiled and tugged on one of the strings "it looks better on you anyway"

"Thanks" she bit her lip.

"So did you enjoy the wedding?"

"Yeah, I just wished someone had asked me to dance, other than Shawn you know? And Farkle…"

"Well than can easily be solved" he pulled out his phone, swiped a few times and soon enough _A thousand Years_ started coming out of the speakers "may I have this dance Miss Hart? Assuming I'm good enough, I know I'm not exactly Dr Turtleneck…"

"You're such an idiot" she shoved him before putting her hand in his and resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for this Josh" he brought his hand up on her back as she giggled

"I'm the one dancing with the prettiest girl at the wedding. Thank you"

"Shut up" she blushed "I look ridiculous"

"You look even more beautiful now than you did at the ceremony"

"Josh, Can I suggest something?"

"Of course"

"Okay I want to pause life for two minutes"

"What?" he chuckled.

"Just freeze everything else in the world for two minutes okay? Whatever happens in the next two minutes doesn't change anything alright?"

"Okay." For a minute he thought he must have been dreaming, there was no way this was happening in real life. This was like something out of a movie, but when her lips finally met his he was pulled back down to earth, this was actually happening, he was kissing the girl of his dreams. Better yet, she was kissing him. "What was that for?" he smiled once she had pulled away.

"Why didn't you ask me to dance Josh? I don't get it, what's stopping you? I mean I know you always said I was too young but I'm not a kid anymore"

"I don't know Maya…" he scratched the back of his neck "I mean we're like family right? It's not that I didn-"

"Time's up" she frowned.

"Pause is over"

"I better get back to the room before Riley finds the remote and makes me watch some horrendous teen movie. I'll see you tomorrow" she began to walk away but before she made it too far Josh grabbed her by the wrist, pulled her towards him and crashed his lips to hers. She quickly responded and wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers working wonders as they made their way through his hair. "The pause is over Josh" she gasped after they had broken apart a few minutes later.

"So?" he dropped his head so that their foreheads were touching.

"You don't want to forget what happened?"

"Never" he smiled as he reached down to capture her lips again and make up for lost time.


End file.
